Need Advice on recomended service. 2001 4Runner 212,000 miles.

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for taking the time to help me out. Just brought in my 01' 4Runner for spark plugs, front/rear diff, and transfer case.

Mechanics did a full inspection and found some other items that need work. I'm wondering what your opinions are about what worth fixing and what's not.

I've attached some of the photos they sent over with price quotes.

Steering Rack and Bushings and Pinion- $1400

Steering Rack and Bushings- $1400

Valve Cover Gaskets- $680

Valve Cover Gaskets- $680

Drum Brake Shoes , Resurface Drums and Replace Axle Seals(leaking axle seals contaminated brake shoes) $950
ABS Rotors and Retainers(pending tear down, possibly need to be replaced- $540



Drum Brake Shoes, Resurface Drums and Replace Axle Seals(leaking axle seals contaminated brake shoes) $950
ABS Rotors and Retainers(pending tear down, possibly need to be replaced- $540

Other recommended items were

Timing Belt Package- Timing Belt, Water Pump, Idler and Tensioner Bearings- $900
(last replaced at 100K miles, now at 211,000)

Coolant Hoses- $400
(radiator replaced 5 years ago)

Fuel Injection Flush And Air Induction Cleaning Service - $360
(not done since 150k miles)

All of this service comes out to roughly $5600. The Truck is Valued on KBB $3200.

What do you all think? I would love to see this car go to 300K miles. The mechanics said the Drum Brake Shoes and Axel Seals are urgent. Other than that I'm curious about what is worth doing and what is not. Any advice or wisdom is much appreciated.

best,

hunter

 

That sounds high. And a lot of unneeded stuff.

Steering Rack and Bushings and Pinion- $1400

Why? Is the steering sloppy? Believe it or not, that oil is probably from the valve covers. My 2002 coated the entire underside of the engine and steering rack over the years due to leaky valve covers.

Valve Cover Gaskets- $680

If he's doing a timing belt service, have him do this for $250 extra tops. It's super easy once the front of the engine is off for a timing belt. Until then, torque down the bolts a little. Your gaskets are shot though...they do need changing. Is he also changing all the spark plug gaskets in the covers and using new bolt washers/gaskets? If there is no leaking on the half moons on the heads...you can skip them.

Drum Brake Shoes , Resurface Drums and Replace Axle Seals(leaking axle seals contaminated brake shoes) $950

Why resurface the drums? Just fix the leak and clean things. Drums will resurface themselves. $950 seems high for Axle Seals...haven't needed to do it on my rig yet...so I don't know how involved it is.

ABS Rotors and Retainers(pending tear down, possibly need to be replaced- $540

Wut? Why?

Timing Belt Package- Timing Belt, Water Pump, Idler and Tensioner Bearings- $900

The only fair price. But only if he uses AISIN/Japanese parts.

Coolant Hoses- $400
(radiator replaced 5 years ago)

Does this include ones to the heater core? I would skip if they look ok. I WOULD replace the radiator. They only last 5 years (even the Toyota ones) and if your transmission is running through it, they cause damage to the transmission if they fail. (google Pink Milkshake)

Fuel Injection Flush And Air Induction Cleaning Service - $360

Skip. To me this is meaningless. You can clean your MAF in 10 minutes yourself....or not. If you're not getting codes...your injectors are fine. If you daily drive the car with good gas...they should be fine.

My $.02. Am not a pro. I just wrench on mine and watch a ton of Youtube videos. It saves me a ton of money so I am able to buy only Toyota parts.

 

A lot of that is high. I would slowly order the OEM Japanese parts yourself and find a mechanic who has no problem using parts your provide.

Also, CHANGE THE FRONT LOWER BALL JOINTS!!!

After that, also have the transmission flushed while at th same time adding an auxiliary transmission cooler and bypassing the radiator so you won't have to worry about pink milkshake.

Valvoline dex/Merc in the blue bottle is what I recommend.

 

Those numbers sound high to me but I am no expert. Where do you live?

$5600 in repairs + $3200 in KBB = $8800 that you could use towards a new or newer vehicle.

I was in a similar situation years ago with a Honda Civic. Mechanic told me the cost of repairs was more than the car was worth. I was hoping to get $500 for it on the trade for my Tundra and they gave me $1,000 so I was thrilled.

If it were me, I would sell it or trade it and move on because that is just how I am. However, I understand the desire to keep it and get it to 300,000. In that case I would focus on safety issues like getting the brakes fixed first. A leaking valve cover or steering rack might make a mess but it wont kill you. A snapped timing belt might trash the engine but it wont kill you. Brakes that don't stop or ball joints that break can cause an accident.

My wife has a 05 Tahoe that she REFUSES to get rid of. Now on it's third transmission, second steering rack, second fuel pump, third radiator, second water pump, second idler pulley, second driver seat cover, second or third rear axle seals, third ebrake cable...... and probably a few other things that I am forgetting. Still, nice not to have a monthly payment but holy crap. And she says if she ever gets rid of it she wants another Tahoe. God help me.

Good luck.

 

No no no... KBB does not accurately show the value of older off-road vehicles like 4runners. Even in shit connditon they are worth more than $3500 easily

 

OK. I was just using the OP's numbers to illustrate a point. If he can get more then that is even better.

 

Time to move on in my opinion if your even contemplating that kind of money in repairs perhaps you're in an "ok" place to buy new or at least newer, of course I'm only assuming this. Repairs are expensive nobody here will tell you any of that is reasonable money. I'm not going to even say do it yourself if your pricing all this out I assume you do not have the appropriate knowledge to do so. I love it when people say you can save a ton doing it yourself, well yeah no $hit but you also have to know how. Personally I do not either I'm an oil-changer and wiper blade replacer. You're throwing good money after bad at this point but at the end of the day you know what you can afford. Just my .02

 

Guys... She can be fixed for a lot less than that and if you want a 3rd gen...what do you expect? They will all need some work to get them back to tip top shape. You're never going to find one for cheap that doesn't need anything at all.

I bought mine for 8000 and spent about 1500-2000 doing to the refresh. Now I'm on mods and loving the truck.

Order the OEM kit for the valve covers, start with the leaks and then move to other items.

 

Sounds like you still have a car payment.

 

Many shops won't do that anymore. You really have to hunt around first before buying parts...or you're stuck with expensive parts.

 

A lot of shops will install your take in parts, but will not warranty the work or the parts also.

 

Right, I have never had an issue with this. Obviously they don't warranty the part...they didn't provide it. Fine with me. But they've always warrantied the work, the part doesn't matter... If they install it wrong they install it wrong.

Another thing that helps is when you do find a shop who will do it, keep doing repeat business with them (assuming you like them). Build a relationship, bring them cookies or chick fil a sometimes. Take care of them and they will take care of you.

 

The warranty would be held by the place you bought them from anyways. By the way its standard practice to mark the same parts you can buy at the parts store 3x if the repair shop has them delivered to the shop. Silly, right?

Even then its the parts store that would warranty them. Its all slight of hand. I would get your parts from Rockauto or a local parts place and have them put on. You save right off the top.

Would love to know which shop gave you this estimate...

 

Haha I know right?

We were texting last night and now she is looking at the new 2021 Chevy Tahoe. I told her she spelled Toyota Sequoia wrong.

 

Hey @negusm @jross20 @rkwfxd

I just wanted to give you all an update. Shortly after this, my radiator cracked and I was forced to bring it in to get that taken care of.

I ended up getting a timing belt package, a new radiator, and replaced the valve gaskets for $1500.

The deal is done, but I'm curious if that sounds reasonable to you all?

Best,

Hunter

 

That's about what I would expect to pay for similar work. Maybe MAYBE you could have saved a couple of bucks by shopping around. Maybe. But I doubt it.

We had to replace our radiator on our Tahoe a couple of years ago and I know it was $500+. Maybe close to $700. So a large part of that $1500 is the cost of the radiator I am guessing. Timing belt and valve cover gasket are not that expensive but there can be a good deal of labor to replace those. Good idea to do the timing belt when they had to pull the radiator so that probably saved you some bucks.

 

Oem parts?

 

He's not going to get a Toyota radiator. Those are not even available anymore last time I looked. The Core is but not the entire unit. Aftermarket one with a lifetime warranty will be like $150.

A good Timing Belt kit is like $300 with all the bearings, tensioners, etc. Toyota part or Toyota Supplier.

It's a 4-5 hour job so what's going rate now? If it 's $200 per hour, you're in the ball park. If it's $100, you paid $500 too much.

 

$100-200 an hour? Isn't that crazy high? Though I guess they could be normal dealership prices. I think the shop I use is like $50-60 an hour.

They dropped the tank, swapped the sender/pump/gaskets for like $180. That's with me providing parts.

 

Sounds like you live well outside a major metro area. I think $100 is the going rate in Charlotte, NC. $200 would be stealership prices.

Of course you can find really tiny garages where Joe 6-Pack works for less. And Joe might be amazing too. But you have to hunt for them.